NBA Playoffs Preview- Dallas Mavericks at Portland Trail Blazers

by Dirty on April 21, 2011

Pointspread: Portland -6

Over/Under: 186

The Dallas Mavericks head to the Rose Garden in Portland this Thursday night for Game 3 of their best-of-seven first round matchup against the Trail Blazers in the Western Conference playoffs. Game time is scheduled for 10:30 p.m. (ET) and it will be broadcast nationally on TNT.

Dallas has not had the best of luck in the first round of the playoffs in the past, but it can take a 3-0 stranglehold in this series with a win on Thursday. The Mavericks grinded out an 89-81 win in Saturday’s Game 1 as a five-point home favorite. The total stayed ‘under’ the 186 ½-point line. Tuesday night, they rolled to a 101-89 victory as a four-point home favorite in a game that went ‘over’ the 184 point line.

Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Kidd combined for 52 points in last Saturday’s win as Kidd rolled back time to go 6-for-10 from three-point range. These two did most of the damage in Game 2, only this time Nowitzki lit things up with a game-high 33 points including the team’s last 11. Dallas shot 48.7 percent from the field on Tuesday after shooting just 40.9 percent in Game 1.

Portland has to hope a change in venue brings a change in fortune for this series. The Trail Blazers won both of their games this season against Dallas at the Rose Garden both straight-up and against the spread and are 3-1 both SU and ATS in the last four there.

If Portland is going to get back in this series it will be up to LaMarcus Aldridge, Gerald Wallace and Andre Miller to get it done. The three have accounted for close to 70 percent of the team’s scoring in this series with Aldridge leading the way with 25.5 points a game. The Trail Blazers have averaged 47 percent from the field and stood toe to toe under the boards with 77 rebounds verse 76 for the Mavericks.

The Trail Blazers are too good of a team to go down in this series without a fight. Stick with Portland to win this game with authority behind the support of the home-town crowd.